She Who Protects
by frogginator
Summary: Tatewaki Kuno gets depressed, and a surprising person pulls him out of a very dangerous situation. My first attempt at a Kuno fic.


She Who Protects  
  
by/par: Froggy  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story. I apologize for using them without permission, but I intend no harm. They belong, in reality, to Rumiko Takahashi et. al.  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: Tatewaki Kuno is down. Very, very down. Just as he's about to do away with himself, someone surprising talks him out of it...well, maybe not so surprising when you think about it.  
  
Author's Note: This is probably way OOC for both, but it was SUCH a strong image in my head...call it an alternate dimension.  
  
She Who Protects  
  
"Tatewaki Kuno, what are you doing?"  
  
The boy didn't look up, just sat there on his knees, feet curled under him, head down and eyes obscured by a mass of dark curls. His broad shoulders were hunched, his muscles tight with strain, and his body shook slightly every couple of seconds. He held one of his decorative metal blades point-first to his flat stomach. The blade gleamed in the slight light, sending a blast of reflected brightness that hurt her eyes for a moment as she looked at him. Somehow, despite being nine inches taller and probably close to sixty pounds heavier than her, he seemed small.  
  
Something cold clutched at her stomach for a moment. Her words weren't uttered demandingly, coldly...but in a soft voice that was slightly shaky and concerned.  
  
"Leave me be, sister." he mumbled, "Let me die in peace." She could hear something strange in his voice, something she'd never heard before. Tears. She was sure of it.   
  
"Look at me, Tatewaki." she said urgently.  
  
"Let me die with honor." he said, the sound of tears in his voice even stronger.  
  
Anger warmed her from inside out as her eyes traveled down the blade he held against himself; as her mind admitted what he was going to do. How dare he...how dare he try to leave her all alone in this huge mansion with only her disgusting, irresponsible father to be her family? As much as she sometimes hated him, he was the best family she had, and a pretty good excuse for a brother at that.  
  
"Look. At. Me." she commanded coldly.  
  
He lifted his head, his hair falling aside so she could see his face; so she could see his dark eyes glinting in the pale light from the window he sat in front of, the tears catching the light and reflecting in an almost-beautiful moonglow on his face, in his eyes. A single tear hung from his chin. Kodachi realized her brother was beautiful, in a way. She did not want to lose him.  
  
"Why must you demand to see my weakness?" he said, his voice breaking, "Leave me be...leave me..." He broke down then, his fingers quivering on the hilt of the sword with an intent Kodachi read like a book. She pursed her lips. She had never seen him cry like that before, not even when they were children, especially since their father had abandoned them. He'd always been there holding her when she was crying for her daddy and he'd never shed a tear, although she could tell he was hurt as well.  
  
Her mouth curled into a little upside-down U of disapproval. She didn't know what was driving him to this insanity, but she would find out. She wouldn't allow him to do this. Kodachi knew she had to be there to hold him while he cried, just as he'd been there for her.  
  
"No." she said matter-of-factly, "I will not leave you to do this."  
  
"And why would you care?" Kuno demanded bitterly, "How many attempts have you made on my life?"  
  
"None." Kodachi admitted truthfully, "I made you sick often, and told you many times the poison was deadly. I lied. I would not do away with family."  
  
Kuno sniffled like a child, "Nonethelss, you will not stop me." he said stubbornly.  
  
She stepped towards him, reaching for his hands, and the grip he had on the sword tightened with that intent again, the intent to drive it into himself...  
  
She stopped, her legs almost going weak at that mental image, "Tacchi-kun." she breathed, "Don't."  
  
Fresh tears spilled down his cheeks, "How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world..." Kuno quoted, and Kodachi recognized Hamlet, "Why should I prolong the existence of a mortal so full of darkness and turmoil, humiliation and apparent stupidity...?" he mumbled, speaking his own poetry.  
  
She blinked, "And what is worth this? What makes the great Tatewaki Kuno, Blue Thunder of Furinken High, speak so low of himself?" she whispered, "Tell me, I may be able to make it better."  
  
"No." he whispered, "No, you will not make it better. Ranma and the pig-tailed girl are one and the same. I have been chasing a woman who...who...." he choked for a moment, "And he has announced that he is in love with Akane. They are to be married, sometime...there is no hope for us, Kocchi. None...all is lost."  
  
Kodachi's mind refused to deal with that statement, and she filed it away under nightmare material. She couldn't let her concentration break, couldn't let it shock her. Besides, he had to be going insane to imagine that wild of a story. She filed it away under impossible unreality, forgot it, and carried on.   
  
Still...her deep feelings for Ranma almost flickered when she realized the strangeness of this situation. The connection clicked in her head; Ranma was killing Tatewaki, whether indirectly or not, Ranma WAS killing her brother. Who did she value more?  
  
Another question her mind refused to tackle.  
  
"A love interest is not worth this."  
  
"And if you found out Ranma was not truly male, but the pig-tailed girl I so stupidly chased?" Kuno demanded.  
  
"I would not run myself through." she said, realizing that fact for the first time, "In fact, if it would keep you from destroying yourself, I would give up on Ranma Saotome." Kodachi startled herself by meaning it, and the questions she'd filed away in confusion earlier were sorting themselves out. They would survive, both Kunos WOULD survive. This was a small teenage incident...  
  
Kuno's eyes met hers, tears welling up and spilling over down his face. Kodachi could tell he was far past the point where he could control them at all. She knew, having been past that point herself. His eyes held that same raw hurt her own had held. His world was crumbling and she knew how he felt...so alone, so afraid. But he'd been there in her dark days, and she would be there in his.  
  
"What of honor? I have slurred the family name so much over the past year...my death would atone, would bring back the honor of the Kuno name."  
  
Kodachi bristled, "And what honor is left after father? I care nothing for honor, if it takes my brother's life."  
  
Kuno looked startled, "You truly mean these things?" he whispered. Kodachi nodded solemnly. For a moment he looked happier, then he seemed to think, and his face turned away from her again.  
  
"I don't want to live." he moaned, "I will never find love again..."  
  
"You are Tatewaki Kuno. Blue Thunder. Rising star. You will find someone new, and this time, the woman will fall in love with you as well." she said softly, "I know you will. You are only eighteen years old. If you don't do this, you have at the least sixty years left of your life, which, I'm sure, is enough to find new love." Somehow, Kodachi said those words for herself as much as Kuno; her own heart was mourning the new union between Akane and Ranma.  
  
"But..." he whimpered, snuffling.  
  
"Give me the sword, Tatewaki. Give it to me and forget this foolishness. Strange as this sounds, I want you to live. I-I should be very afraid if you weren't here with me. If I was left alone..."  
  
His chest heaved with a sob and he dropped the sword with a clatter on the floor, "I have not even the courage to slay myself!" Kuno sobbed, burying his face in his hands as Kodachi shoved the sword away with her foot, like it was something disgusting.  
  
Kodachi walked to him, crouching beside him and, gathering his much larger body into her arms, placing his head against her shoulder, comforting him as a mother would. He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned against her, seeking the comfort like an injured child.  
  
"Be still." she said softly, patting his back, "Be still, and don't be afraid. This humiliation will pass. The jokes will end, and your embarassment will subside. You will find a perfect woman, a good woman for you."  
  
"I feel so very alone." Kuno sobbed, "I felt so alone I couldn't live with it anymore..."  
  
"You are never alone." Kodachi reminded him, "Your family will stand behind you, even if it is only I, for now. Weep, and it will leave you. Women know this, we are skilled in matters of emotion. I will tell no one about this incident, you will forget it and never consider this again."  
  
Kodachi rocked softly and stroked Kuno's hair until the worst of it left him. Then, when he was ready, she stood and supported him as he walked to bed, then watched as he fell asleep in minutes, physically and emotionally exhausted.  
  
She surprised herself again with the tenderness she manifested in covering him with the thick comforter before she left him to his dreams.  
  
Kodachi removed anything deadly from Kuno's room and ordered Sasuke to call her immediately when Kuno awoke.  
  
Author says: Please review. It's my first attempt at a Kuno fic. 


End file.
